One of the most common sort of question we get here at The Kitchn starts like this: What do I do with ________? Fill in the blank: onions, lemons, exotic oils, coconut jam, duck fat, an abundance of hot peppers, quinoa, barley leftover pie dough, rice, pasta — the list goes on and on. Maybe you also are discovering some leftovers or challenging ingredients as you clean out your pantry and fridge for the Cure. Well, don't throw them away!
Start here first, and see if you can find an idea or two for using up your leftovers.
In the Fridge and Freezer
• Buttermilk
• Chicken fat
• Chicken scraps, bones, or carcass
• Coconut jam
• Cooked chicken and more leftover chicken
• Cooked broccoli
• Cooked cabbage
• Cooked potatoes
• Cranberry sauce
• Extra egg whites
• Frozen edamame
• Frozen eggs
• Hard boiled eggs, and more hard boiled eggs
• Herbs
• Inedible failed dishes
• Leftover pasta
• Leftover salmon
• Oxtail
• Pie dough or cookie dough scraps
• Pickle brine and more pickle brine
• Rice
• Ricotta
• Roast lamb
• Quail eggs
• Silken tofu
• Sour cream
• Taco night leftovers
• Whipped cream
In the Pantry or On the Countertop
• Almond meal, and more almond meal
• Amaranth
• Bad wine
• Barley
• Blackstrap molasses
• Bulgur wheat
• Candy canes
• Crystallized sugar syrup
• Curry powder
• Dried dates
• Dried herbs
• Duck fat
• Fennel pollen
• Hard brown sugar
• Leftover cake
• Morello cherries in a jar
• Quinoa
• Stale tortilla chips
• Pistachio oil
• Truffle oil
• Walnut oil
• Whole wheat pasta
• Wondra flour
In the Produce Basket
• Berries
• Chive blossoms
• Citrus peels
• Cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers
• Smoked garlic
• Hot peppers
• Jalapeños
• Leeks
• Lemons, more lemons, and yet more lemons!
• Lemongrass
• Lettuce
• Green tomatoes, and more green tomatoes
• Mushroom steeping liquid
• Onions
• Potatoes
• Spaghetti squash
• Strawberries
• Turnips
• Overripe fruit
• Unripe fruit
• Vegetable scraps, and more vegetable scraps
• Yellow plums
• Zested, naked lemons
OK, what did we miss? Are you using up your leftovers or extra ingredients in creative ways? Tell us!
This is great! I put a link up from my site! Thanks for all the work!
view mowe34's profile
Brushing egg whites onto eggplant slices before frying them cuts down on the oiliness and yields a perfectly crunchy exterior with a deliciously silky interior - as seen here in this recipe for Simple Fried Eggplant with Less Oil.
view Hartley from Kitchen Caravan's profile
This is just what I needed - thanks!
view Tracey at The Thoughtful Table's profile
Great list!
Right now I have a whole lot of dry sherry to use up. I made French Onion Soup in the last cold days of March, and we drank a little, but I still have most of the bottle. Sherry vinaigrette only gets me so far. For braising vegetables maybe?
view cmcinnyc's profile
We use puff pastry to write our children's names on top of any family-size pie we make. It uses up the scraps of pastry and entertains the babies. :-)
view phillippa's profile
I've added a link to this post from my LiveJournal's sidebar. Thanks very much!
view Elizabeth B's profile
The link for molasses didn't work!
view sils's profile
@sils - all fixed now - thanks!
view faith's profile
This is an amazing list, but what about pesto? I made a huge batch and froze it into ice cube trays last summer, but the last time I took out the bag to get a few cubes, I left it out until it all defrosted! I don't think I better re-freeze it, so now I have a cup (or 2?) of pesto to use pronto! Any ideas?
view craftsister's profile
Very useful post. I linked to it in my 30 Quick, Green and Frugal Meal Planning Resources list.
view itsfrugalbeinggreen's profile
i just hate when I have leftover quail eggs.
view stellamystar's profile